Materials to Meet Special Needs

published or submitted for publicatio

The Special Need of the Local Church

All around this world are individuals with special needs who are seeking to find a place where they truly belong: “According to a 2010 U.S. Census study, 56.7 million Americans, or about one in five U.S. residents have a disability” (Lee 40). With such a statistic, an individual with special needs is bound to be found in almost every church across the U.S. In her book Leading a Special Needs Ministry, Amy Fenton Lee states, “Congregations with a regular attendance from eighty to eight thousand are both impacted, as children with neurological and physical disabilities seek inclusion” (36). Many churches realize the presence of those with special needs but place them off to the side, failing to provide an environment where they may thrive: “Children with disabilities too often find that the church doesn’t truly welcome or truly value them. There simply isn’t a place for these children when kids scamper off to Sunday school classes on Sunday morning” (“The Need for Special Needs Ministries”). Without the acceptance and care they need, some families of those with special needs are left with no choice but to stay at home on Sundays. This may seem outrageous to some, but it is many times the sad reality for those with special needs and their families. Many individuals fail to remember that those with special needs are also created in the image of God and deserve to be included in the dynamic of the local church as much as anyone else. Local churches should establish ministries in order to provide children, youth, and adults with special needs the means to receive the gospel, Deacon 2 discipleship, and a sense of community in an environment unique to their situations and behaviors

Children with special educational needs: an analysis. 2012

This is an annual publication which draws together data from a number of key public data sets and supports the Government’s commitment to make information publicly available in a transparent way. It presents information at national and local levels about the characteristics and attainment of pupils with special educational needs

Towards a better understanding of students with a learning disability /

Comprend des références bibliographique

I Admire His Willingness In Helping Others…": Lesson Learned By A Peer Buddy In an Inclusive Classroom

As argued by Lewis (1 995) that regular student can gain advantage from interaction with special needs students. One of the interaction model can be achieved through peer buddy. Peer buddy is an approach which can be used to create a mutual relationship between regular students and students with variation of disability. The purpose of this study is to describe the belief, attitude, behavior of a peer buddy toward his special needs mate, and to portray his perception of what he gaim from this relationship. The authors used a qualitative case study design. Data was gathered from interview toward a peer buddy of a special need student with Cerebral Palsy in an inclusive classroom. The data was analyzed compared to interview data of the special needs mate, also data from classroom teacher and special needs teacher. Transcribed interview texts were analyzed to identify themes and key issues related to peer buddy characteristics, his belief, attitude and behavior toward the special needs student. The study produced findings, i.e, first, positive belief tend to lead to positive attitude and behavioral intention toward special need friends. Secondly, the benefit for peer buddy is increase in awareness of diversity and their friends' unique capabilities. As it is reflected by the peer buddy, as followed "Usually kid like him is the one who receives helps, but instead he helps other.. .. I admire his willingness in helping others ... .. " The findings from this study suggest that in order to provide the special students better, there are a need in enhancing classmate comprehension of special needs, improvement in school accessibility and facilities for special needs, and factors to be considered in peer buddy selection

Factors predicting physical activity among children with special needs.

IntroductionObesity is especially prevalent among children with special needs. Both lack of physical activity and unhealthful eating are major contributing factors. The objective of our study was to investigate barriers to physical activity among these children.MethodsWe surveyed parents of the 171 children attending Vista Del Mar School in Los Angeles, a nonprofit school serving a socioeconomically diverse group of children with special needs from kindergarten through 12th grade. Parents were asked about their child's and their own physical activity habits, barriers to their child's exercise, and demographics. The response rate was 67%. Multivariate logistic regression was used to examine predictors of children being physically active at least 3 hours per week.ResultsParents reported that 45% of the children were diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, 38% with autism, and 34% with learning disabilities; 47% of children and 56% of parents were physically active less than 3 hours per week. The top barriers to physical activity were reported as child's lack of interest (43%), lack of developmentally appropriate programs (33%), too many behavioral problems (32%), and parents' lack of time (29%). However, child's lack of interest was the only parent-reported barrier independently associated with children's physical activity. Meanwhile, children whose parents were physically active at least 3 hours per week were 4.2 times as likely to be physically active as children whose parents were less physically active (P = .01).ConclusionIn this group of students with special needs, children's physical activity was strongly associated with parental physical activity; parent-reported barriers may have had less direct effect. Further studies should examine the importance of parental physical activity among children with special needs